1st Century Church or a 1st Century Jesus

I attended a discussion on leadership at the Zoe Conference on Saturday for Elders presented by Dr. John York, a Bible Professor, at Libscomb University. It was very informative and made me think about direction and purpose not only for my personal life, but the Central Family.

One session centered on working with the body and individuals of your church in situations such as divorce, sexual orientation issues, addictions and other deep personal issues.

Dealing with these subjects over the years, many elderships across the country have made decisions and judgments based on the judicial method. Going to the Bible or examining past practice (traditions). Many individuals searching for Christ never believed they had a chance because of past issues in their personal lives. They believed they could never receive the grace and forgiveness that could be found in Christ.

Another ingredient, in any decision-making process, is the need to examine the individual's circumstances. When you look at the relational side of an individual, you begin to realize that the situation might warrant further review and discussion on what might be best for the individual or individuals involved other than just condemnation and throwing the erring brother or sister out in the cold. Did Jesus practice this method? He looked at the individual in light of God’s Word and told them “to go and sin no more”.

I am thankful that I work with an eldership that looks at the individual and tries to help them in all ways possible to understand the situation and the sin in their lives and allow God to change and work on their hearts.

An elder in our discussion group made a comment that I have been constantly thinking about the past two days, “I don’t want to be the Church of the 1st Century, I want to be Jesus of the 1st Century”.

We need to ask ourselves what Jesus would do in situations. What would he do to help individuals battle sin and despair and allow them to rebuild their lives and begin life a new.

He took the time to become involved in people’s lives.

As Evan would say, "ministry in messy."